With 0-60 being 4.8 and BMW usually being super conservative on their 0-60's, this car should be pretty quick. It looks like the 3cyl gas engine is just being used as a compressor. I wonder if its all electric all wheel drive? If it is then its similar to the same tech as the Chevy volt. This tech always trickles down to the lower series vehicles. This is gonna be epic.!!!!

The i8 is all wheel drive. The electric motor drives the front wheels and the gas engine drives the rear ones. Not at all like the volt that used the gas engine to sustain the batteries charge.

I really love this car, but to echo what many have already said, I feel it's almost a waste by not slapping a big powerful engine in this bad boy. Save the electric technology for the i3, and make this beast an R8 killer.

Can't wait for 10-15 years after this is released when I can get a used one And throw something just stupid under the hood of it. Yea it'll take re working the whole damn thing but (by then) an old supercharged v10 or say a blown ls7 (hopefully old and cheap by then) would be hella fun

The i8 is all wheel drive. The electric motor drives the front wheels and the gas engine drives the rear ones. Not at all like the volt that used the gas engine to sustain the batteries charge.

The range extender version of the i3 would be more along the lines of the Volt but not exactly. Rex i3 after initial launch, main market: US.

i8 system is still being tweaked so it will be interesting to see the final outcome. Whether the electric can be used as a push to pass, as well as final output numbers. They were deputing adding a limited slip and other performance driving. It is still a ways away from production so a lot can change.... it was originally a diesel!

The range extender version of the i3 would be more along the lines of the Volt but not exactly. Rex i3 after initial launch, main market: US.

i8 system is still being tweaked so it will be interesting to see the final outcome. Whether the electric can be used as a push to pass, as well as final output numbers. They were deputing adding a limited slip and other performance driving. It is still a ways away from production so a lot can change.... it was originally a diesel!

Yes, the i3's range extender is *like* the volt but again not exactly. Supposedly the i3's range extender will be a small 600cc two cylinder that will only sustain the battery's charge once it hits a certain low point. The volts gas engine can, in some condition's deliver power to the wheels. BMW has claimed the i3's range extender will have no physical connection to the wheels and will only act as a generator.

Because it then defeats the single purpose of the BMWi philosophy. "Born Electric" If it is made to be a V8 or V10 super sports car it then loses its lustre , innovation and purpose.
It will then join a market where the vanity lasts for fifteen minutes before the next one comes along.

The i8 is a one of a kind concept , it is for one purpose and that it is to prove how excitement and performance can work with alternative drive.
Everything about the i8 is exclusive to the i8. This is not another variant from an expansive platform. Nor, is it just an electrified sports car.
This is innovation and creativity at the highest level and the i8 aims to prove that a lightweight electrifed sports car can be as fast an M3 and certainly innovative to give established sports cars a fright - This thing is fast and the dynamics and steering in rough format are proving to be sports car worthy.

And like most sports cars BMW will offer you the i8 in Coupe or Spyder format. Which will open the i8 experience for warmer climates.
The BMW i8 will be a car that does not look like and drives like no other BMW, or any other car for that matter and that is what it makes it exciting!

Because it then defeats the single purpose of the BMWi philosophy. "Born Electric" If it is made to be a V8 or V10 super sports car it then loses its lustre , innovation and purpose.
It will then join a market where the vanity lasts for fifteen minutes before the next one comes along.

The i8 is a one of a kind concept , it is for one purpose and that it is to prove how excitement and performance can work with alternative drive.
Everything about the i8 is exclusive to the i8. This is not another variant from an expansive platform. Nor, is it just an electrified sports car.
This is innovation and creativity at the highest level and the i8 aims to prove that a lightweight electrifed sports car can be as fast an M3 and certainly innovative to give established sports cars a fright - This thing is fast and the dynamics and steering in rough format are proving to be sports car worthy.

And like most sports cars BMW will offer you the i8 in Coupe or Spyder format. Which will open the i8 experience for warmer climates.
The BMW i8 will be a car that does not look like and drives like no other BMW, or any other car for that matter and that is what it makes it exciting!

I wouldn't argue the fact that BMW i8 will be born electric, innovative, etc. It's just disappointing because this was an opportunity for a car that many BMW fans, including myself, have been waiting for, i.e. a traditional, conventional, R8 killer resurrection of the 8 series. i8 aims to prove all those things you mentioned and it perhaps will do all that. It's just not what I was waiting for as the next big thing coming out of BMW.